Astronauts upbeat after hard 'ballistic' landing

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

STAR CITY, Russia (AFP) — The first South Korean in space together with the American and a Russian who accompanied her said on Monday they were recovering well after a gruelling "ballistic" descent to Earth.

Yi So-Yeon, who returned from the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday in an irregular landing that subjected the crew to huge gravitational forces, said there had been nothing to worry about either during take-off or landing.

"It's really, really safe and really comfortable because all the cosmonauts helped me so much," said Yi at a press conference at the Star City astronaut training centre after returning from nine days aboard the ISS.

"During the descent I saw some kind of fire outside because we were going through the atmosphere," she said,...